As we accumulate years and stuff. which is worse.

1. Getting into the middle of a project and realizing that I don't have the tool or supplies that I should have with this ungodly amount of "STUFF" I have accumulated over the decades
OR
2. Getting into the middle of a project and KNOWING I have that tool or supplies but I can't remember where the hell it is in the ungodly amount of "STUFF" I have accumulated over the decades

Never experienced either phenomenon. If I don't have it, I get it. If I can't find it, I will look again.

Or knowing you have it but realize you either sold it or threw it away a while ago.

Or knowing that you had it 20 minutes ago and cannot find it now!

Whew....glad I'm not the only one!

Yeah, this morning the hunt starts for a jig I know I have.....somewhere.

I think becoming forgetful is far worse then being disorganized. And yes, Ive experienced both.

Being disorganized and forgetful seems to come with age. I’ve experienced all three. Just last night I dreamed I was awake and woke up and found myself sound asleep.

I've found that the first is easy to deal with--just buy it.
The second situation is also solved the same way--buy another. You'll immediately find the first one and then you'll have two. It makes it easier to find at least one when you need it again.

quote:

Originally posted by dian1:
I've found that the first is easy to deal with--just buy it.
The second situation is also solved the same way--buy another. You'll immediately find the first one and then you'll have two. It makes it easier to find at least one when you need it again.

When I was a boat builder I'd buy like ten 99 cent Harbor Freight 8' tape measures every time we went to Santa Rosa to visit grandpa and ma. Retired now, I'm still finding them in odd places.

quote:

Or knowing you have it but realize you either sold it or threw it away a while ago.

This and Number two for me! I've had things that I've kept for years and years, only to get rid of them thinking that there is no way in hell that I would ever need that item, and then realize in less than a month that I now need it for a project! That's when you get pissed at yourself!

When you move, you encounter this problem a lot! And not only with tools!

Now I read a book about productivity once, and one of the tenets was "A place for everything and everything in its place" ... that right there is something to take to heart!

If I had a $ for every minute I spent looking for stuff, I would be a wealthy man. The worst is little things that fall on the floor and disappear. Esp gun parts.

While looking for something I often find some other tool, jig or part that I was not searching for and realize I would never have been able to find it on purpose.

quote:

Or knowing you have it but realize you either sold it or threw it away a while ago.

yes that is # 3 : After decades of hauling something around packing saving. Then to read about organizing and the rule is if you don't use it for a year give it away........... sure as tomorrow with in 30 days of giving it away I need it for some reason.


On the other hand it is great to have lived long enough and to have enough to experience these problems. Also all this stuff I have accumulated is all good necessary and important. On the other hand the crap that the wife and kids hoard, now that is a problem!

Ok now this has me mad! You guys finally did it.
I never lose anything, and I never throw anything away.
But now I can't find my 444 reamer. I have 105 of them, all neatly laid in a tool cabinet drawer. (only one 444)
Because of this stupid thread, now it is missing. I used it last, about 20 years ago.
Just to piss me off, it left. All because of you. If this thread had not been started, it would still be in its place
crap.

wow 105. well maybe I'm not a hoarder... May be just a very very motivated collector of important stuff!

Yeah and I took them all out and looked again; still no 444.
So I called Dave Manson today and ordered another one.
But I did find some I don't want and they are in the classifieds now.

I no longer own stuff. Stuff owns me.

I once lost a Starret 0-1 depth mic.

I looked every where in the shop, for 14 months, could not find it.

So MSC had a sale on and I bought a new one.
Yes, I found the old one 3 days later

I had laid the old mic in a ring binder and shut the binder up and put it on the shelf.
I could tell you to the week that had happened.

But I never thought about looking for the old mic in a ring binder.

That was years ago.

Now I have been looking for a Starret digtal outside Mic, last saw and used it 4 years ago, I have been thru the shop every few months and can not find it.

You now what will happen if I buy a used mic to replace it.
So either its hiding somewhere in the shop, or the last employee took it home, I simply am not sure.

What's worse though is losing something, and cleaning the shop and workbench up.
Then the next morning come into the shop and in the middle of the cleaned workbench top there lays the dang thing, laughing at you.

J Wisner

ALWAYS blame the wife and the item will be found....right where I put it for safe keeping.

Works every time in our 46 year marriage.

Ya, neither one is much fun but I cannot pick a "worst".

Zeke

I have at least 135 reamers and a bucket full of guages,They play hide and seek with me for several hours, and they're laughing the whole time......

Try to blame my wife for anything will get you an 8 inch carving knife through ribs #4 and 5. NO sense of humor.

personalty I am convinced that a uterus is a finding device. In the house when what ever it is goes missing and I look until I'm despondent I, with head down ask the minister of the interior for help... Almost always she will find it with the sarcastic and superior "Oh look honey its right where you put it".

Actually I have improved with age. I lose lots of little stuff now that I am old....but once
In my (Misspent) youth I actually lost a car for a couple of days. That's a story for another day.

quote:

Originally posted by els:
As we accumulate years and stuff. which is worse.

1. Getting into the middle of a project and realizing that I don't have the tool or supplies that I should have with this ungodly amount of "STUFF" I have accumulated over the decades
OR
2. Getting into the middle of a project and KNOWING I have that tool or supplies but I can't remember where the hell it is in the ungodly amount of "STUFF" I have accumulated over the decades

This post describes my life! I once lost a chainsaw for a month and was convinced it had been stolen. I found it after I bought another. In plumbing, I always have everything but the fitting I need. Ditto with my electrical stuff. If I put a chambering reamer in the wrong drawer, I might as well have thrown it in the trashcan because I'll never find it.
I once misplaced a treasured pocket knife. I convinced myself it must have fallen out of my pocket at my last camp on a sheep hunt the previous fall so, as soon as the snow looked to have melted off enough, I drove forty miles and hiked another seven, up to my camp site. I dug around in the dirt for an hour, like a squirrel digging for nuts, and found nothing. Back at home, I leaned back in my recliner to contemplate my problems and a bunch of change fell out of my pocket and down beside the cushion. I dug down to recover the change and there was the knife! In a way, this isn't as bad as the time I spend looking for the caliper in my hand or the magnifier on my head, but it took more effort. Regards, Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
I no longer own stuff. Stuff owns me.

That is the truth….

I have a sub-category.
You put a valuable item in a safe place, then can't remember the place.

Somewhere between needing something and looking for something, I seem to forget what it was I needed.

I misplace a lot of stuff but I have a greater personal concern; I have become 'not careful'. I make mistakes resulting in unacceptable work and sometimes abrasion to body parts. In a former lifetime I did dangerous work. I never had a problem with it for one reason; the danger scared me a lot and made me painfully careful. I have been trying to resurrect some of that fear (respect) for the danger in what I do with the milling machine and the lathe.

-Once I find I need something (or THINK I need something) I go out and buy it. And then I never need it again.

-Whenever I need something I always have one, but left it at home. This happens a lot when I'm in the middle-of-no where, elk hunting or something.

-Guaranteed that if I can't find something and I go buy another one I will find the one that I couldn't find. This will always be after I ripped open the packaging and thrown away the receipt.

How about this.

You lose something that you remember fondly and miss greatly, and you lose it for years.

Then you find it! Like the prodigal son, it returns to the fold.

It happened to me with a favorite folding knife that I found in a sofa just before I gave it to Goodwill.

Man, was I happy. I felt like buying three rounds for the house. Any house. Anywhere.

What happened next?

You don't need me to tell you.

I lost the damn thing again.